After the Murdurs
by CullenLove002
Summary: Takes place right after Jimmy stops Wakefield from killing Abby in the flashback. Both Abby and Jimmy POV, runs all the way to when Abby leaves... Possibly till when she comes back.
1. Chapter 1

Jimmy POV:

After Abby and I had run away from the explosion, I'd ran home to make sure my parents were aware of the fact that there had been a major explosion not two miles from our house, while Abby ran to find her mom and tell her the news.

What awful timing. Couldn't whoever have caused the explosion have waited till _tomorrow_? Abby and I should be setting up our tent now, I should be grabbing firewood, and she should be setting up sleeping bags. Maybe we'll just have to postpone till tomorrow, as long as we get the fire out by nightfall.

I hopped up the porch step lightly, and swung the front door open. A typical Mance family moment was at hand, Beth with a bottle of beer drooped lazily over the couch, flipping through our ten channels on the tv, and Paul snoring with his mouth open in the recliner chair.

"Mom did you hear about the explosion? Somebody blew up the Marina," She nodded slightly and pointed her beer bottle towards the tv, where the news cast was on about it. It looked like a camera crew had flown down from Seattle to broadcast it.

"Oh, okay…" I was a little shocked that she was actually watching the news. Beth was more into hair products and makeup infomercials. "Ah, I'm gonna take the truck and pick Abby up at her house, Be back later." Beth eyed me curiously. She was skeptical about my choice in Abby, especially after the sheriff had made it very clear that he was unhappy with the situation, and hated me just as much as some of the actual criminals he locked up.

I rolled my eyes and walked back out the front door. Why should her dad's opinion matter so much to me, when I really loved Abby? I loved her more than the sheriff knew, more than my parents knew, and probably more than even Abby knew. It didn't matter to me what people thought. Some guys were pretty shocked when she didn't end up hooking up with Henry, they'd always been tight. But Abby had pointed out that he was like a brother, however cliché that might be. Best friends since infants.

The keys were already in my truck, and I leaped in the cab without hesitation. The truck grumbled when I started it, I'd have to fix that, and I headed off down the hill and to the road that would lead me to Sheriff Mill's house, and his daughter.

Not ten minutes down the road, I saw an odd sight. A man, with a whaling knife. I sped up a little, and saw another body, struggling against ropes. I picked up my speed to forty mph, and screeched to a halt just in time to see the man beheaded. The crunch of his bones made my skin crawl. Looking quickly at the scene, I saw someone in the bushes. Dressed in blue.

_Abby_, The man with the knife had spotted her, and was walking toward her, a greedy, hungry look on his face. _No! _I heaved myself up and out of the cab, "HEY!" I called, distracting the man, Abby looked up, but ran away quickly as soon as I had the man's attention. He took one step toward me, and I jumped right back into my car and drove off.

_What to do, What to do, What to do. Shit, shit, shit. _Abby was okay, but that man had just been decapitated. I turned my truck at a fork in the road, and sped, not caring about the speed limit, all the way to the Sheriff's station. That man was still out there, and Abby was alone in the woods.

I hit the brakes and lunged out of the car like a rocket, running head long into the front door of the station. People were running in and out, the burning man from the marina was on a cot being treated by paramedics, and the few cops that this Island had were running around, some on the phone and others rushing out the front door. I grabbed the attention of one that I knew, the one that had locked me up the night of Henry's party on Wellington's yacht.

"Stratford! There was a man, he killed another guy with a whaling knife, Abby Mills is still out there, you need to get some help!"

Stratford eyed me like I'd gone mad, then his eyes grew wide and took a step back. "What did he look like?" He demanded.

"Ahh, salty blond hair, scruffy, black eyes, I didn't get a good look at him." The deputy cursed and turned around, running his fingers through his hair, muttering unintelligible words under his breath.

I have to call the sheriff, yeah, call the sheriff." I waited impatiently while he looked around the hectic room for a walkie, but it went off with a beep before his hands even touched it. It was full of static, and the room hadn't stopped for even a second. The deputy raised his hands to his mouth and whistled. Everyone froze, "I need to hear this, Wakefield's back." The atmosphere in the room became very cold, not a soul moved.

"Wakefield?" I asked, but the deputy shushed me, and waved me off as the walkie went off again.

"Stratford? Stratford come in, over." The sheriff's voice came through the walkie.

"This is Stratford, Charlie, we have a problem." The man croaked.

"I know, Wakefield. I need you to get as many people down by Huntings road asap, Bring a car to grab Abby, we have a problem."

Abby? A problem? Shit, shit shit. "Is she okay?" I asked the deputy, voice sounding strained with worry. The deputy looked at me, eyes still wide.

"Is she okay?" He spoke into the walkie. This time the sheriff sounded mad.

"She's _fine_ just get your ass down here. I need backup and a team. It isn't pretty so quit your gabbing and get in your car. I'll fill you in once you get down here, although… It's kinda self explanatory. Just hurry up, for god sakes."

It must have been bad, because everyone in the office started grabbing gear and heading out the door in less than five seconds. I followed Stratford out the door, and grabbed his arm, forcing him to turn around and look at me. "I want to come, to help."

"Go home kid, you shouldn't be there." I pulled his arm away.

"No, I want to see Abby and make sure she's okay. I won't be in your way. I just need to see that she's okay." He rolled his eyes at me.

"Get in." I pulled a Dukes of Hazard move over the front of the car, and slid into the front seat, receiving another eye roll from Stratford. He started the engine and pulled out of the lot, not bothering to watch his speed limit. The drive was silent, and took about ten minutes, of which I was sitting anxiously in the back seat. We pulled to the side of Huntings road, followed by three other police cars. Stratford looked around, and spoke into the walkie, "Charlie?"

The response was automatic, "Head to the old tree, not far off the side of the road. Hurry" The team of small town police ran with their guns ready. I ran just behind them, not sure what to expect. Then we spotted it.

High in the old tree, were three bodies, hanging from branches near the top. I got closer, and saw the Sheriff holding a stiff Abby, I ran forward, forgetting the police with guns in their hands. I looked back up to the tree, the obvious reason for Abby's distress. But once I got closer, I saw a familiar face. Abby's mom was hanging in the middle of the tree.

_Shit_. I ran closer, and Abby spotted me over her dad's shoulder. She pushed him away, slowly, and took a step towards me, stumbling over roots and leaves. She walked stiffly into my arms, holding onto my shirt, and I wrapped my arms around her protectively, holding her steady. The rest of the police ran ahead of me, with the sheriff still looking up at his wife. Had Wakefield done this? The man that had beheaded a stranger with a whaling knife?

"Abby, Abby are you okay?" I held her back to look at her face, she nodded but grabbed me closer. I stroked her hair, and held her tight against me. Oh how this day had gone wrong. We should have been having fun- tons of fun actually- laughing and running around like crazy in love teens. I sighed.

The sheriff came over to me, "Take her home, don't let her out of your sight, you hear me? Do not let her out of your sight, or you'll be in jail longer than the last time, I can promise you."

Abby spoke up, turning her head slightly, "Dad, stop it." I just nodded to the sheriff.

"I promise, nothing will happen to her."


	2. Chapter 2

Abby POV

Jimmy walked me to the back of a police cruiser, where he let me slide in first, but followed closely behind. I couldn't grasp what I'd seen. Mom wasn't dead, she couldn't be dead! I'd seen her not two hours ago, asking her to keep my secret plans with my boyfriend from dad… She'd been drinking coffee on the porch, smiling, her green eyes wide and happy.

Who could have done this? Who would ever do this? Why did this happen? Today of all days, today that's supposed to be committed to just me and Jimmy, Jimmy and me, has now turned into the blackest memory I've ever had. The man, who had beheaded the local with a whaling knife, dad had said _Wakefield_. He had done this to my mom, had done this to me. Why? Why her? Was she just a helpless victim to his killing game?

Jimmy's arms were around me as one of my dad's men buckled down in the front seat. "Abby… are you okay?" Elliot Chase asked me, hesitant. I was in shock, I was frozen. I was barely aware of the present, my mind was in the clouds, I couldn't get mom's scream out of my head, he body hanging from the tree, mouth agape and eyes worn. She looked grey, tired.

"Abby?" I heard Jimmy's voice call, I couldn't answer. He shook me a little, and I made an odd sort of sound. Like a choke and a gurgle. "Abby?" he called again, anxious this time. "Abby, it's going to be okay, we'll catch him, and everything will be okay." I was hyperventilating now, aware that I was clinging to Jimmy's shirt with my finger nails, his arms the only thing that was holding me up. "It will be okay, Abby. Your dad will catch him, it will be okay," he soothed. Dad? Dad had just stared up, not shocked, ready. He was calm, calling his deputies at the station, said there was problem. Not a catastrophe, not a tragedy, his wife was hanging from a tree with three other persons, another man god knows where missing a head, and he was acting as if someone had robbed a convenient store.

"Shh, Abby, shhh," Jimmy was rubbing my back, my arms, his free hand wiping hair from my face. What was he shushing me for? I wasn't speaking. I was convulsing sure, but…

"J-j-jimmy," I broke out into sobs and grabbed him closer, burying my face into his shoulder. "Oh Jimmy…" I cried out, watching the trees out the window, so beautiful to me this morning, suddenly looking like they might arc over and grab me from Jimmy's arms with their limbs acting as claws, dragging me slowly into the woods. What a nightmare this day had turned into…

"It's okay Abby, you don't have to be afraid. Your dad will take care of this. You'll be fine, _we'll_ be fine." He repeated the same thing over and over for the rest of the ride, I eventually stopped crying, taking a deep breath, as I stepped out of the car. _Don't be a coward. Be brave, you can handle this._

"Uh, Ms. Mills, I'm going to have to ask you and Mr. Mance some questions about what happened. I'm sorry, but its best to get this over with." I didn't respond, I just stood with my shoulders hunched, holding onto Jimmy's hand.

The police station was empty, except for a few police officers talking furiously into walkie talkies, the room seemed dark and foreboding. Chase led us to the back of the room, where there was a small table. Jimmy held out a seat for me, and Chase took the opposite side. "Mr. Mance, could you please get Ms. Mills some water, I think there's fountain outside, you can grab a mug from that cupboard," he pointed above my dad's desk. "I'll have some questions for you once you're back inside."

Jimmy stroked my hair and whispered in my ear "I'll be right back," I looked up into his eyes, he gave me a look, a reassuring one, "I promise," He kissed my cheek and then left.

It only took Chase five minutes to ask what I'd been doing that day, what I'd been doing when I found my mother, and the previous events. When I'd told him that Jimmy and I'd seen the marina explosion from the side of the mountain, he'd asked what we'd been doing there. I decided to respond truthfully and say we'd been going camping, which made him raise his brows, and give me a look that said "does your father know?". Apparently Nikki wasn't the only one with the camping with a guy equals sex assumption.

Jimmy was back with the mug full of water before just as I'd gotten to explaining the tree. He held my hand and traced circles into the back of it. His face was set deep in concentration, looking upset. Almost as soon as Chase was finished, the door to the station swung open with two people shuffling inside.

Kelly. Her mom had been there too, in the tree. Her golden brown hair fell straight and a little bit wavy down the side of her round face, colorful neon clothes making her look like a ray of sunshine. But her face was stricken and creased with worry. Her dad held his hand on her shoulder, he was a good head taller than her.

"Where's Malinda? What's going on?" Mr. Siever demanded. Kelly looked at my red eyes.

"Abby? What's going on…" Jimmy took my hand and led me out of the small station, receiving an okay nod from Chase to get me out of the small, and now crowded room.

"I'm so sorry Abby," Jimmy whispered to me.

Me too.


	3. Chapter 3

Jimmy POV

I held the truck's door open for Abby, and she silently slipped inside. I kissed her forehead, and walked around to the driver's side, robotically getting in, starting the engine, and pulling out of the back of the Police Station. I didn't exactly know where to take her, would she want to go home? Would she rather be someplace else, that didn't have memories of her mom trapped inside?

"Do you want me to take you home?" I whispered, afraid to break the concentration that was causing a couple small lines between her brows. She didn't respond, it took her a minute, as if she had to build up the will to respond. Her mouth opened after a minute, but nothing came out. She shook her head, no. "We shouldn't be outside with that guy on the loose; do you want to crash at my place for now?" Quicker this time, she shook her head again. "How about we go see Henry," I finally said after a minute, at a loss. If I couldn't help, Henry could.

She thought about it for a minute, and slowly nodded her head. With positive response out of her, I turned the car around in the opposite direction, towards the Dunn's summer home. It didn't bother me that Abby's best friend was a guy, or that they were closer to each other than a lot of people thought was normal. She'd always been one of the guys; even back in elementary school, Abby had helped Dennis Crawl and I stick a couple of worms into Jessica Welt's peanut butter and fluff sandwich, or in Middle school, when she'd punched Shane full across the face for calling Trish a rich slut. He'd had to pay a couple hundred dollars for dentist work after that.

Anyway, Abby and Henry had always been a package deal. When I'd first started to like her, in sixth grade, I never said anything, because back then, I'd always thought that they'd end up together- like most other people on the Island. It wasn't till our freshman year of high school, that I even started to think of asking her out, mostly because Henry had started dating girls from his school in Tacoma, and a few more during his summer's on the Island. I finally asked her if she minded about him seeing a ton of girls during the summer of our Softmore year. We'd always been friends, but the question had been killing me for five years.

I remember her smiling and shaking her head no, _"He's like my big brother. It's weird for me to see him dating a ton of people, but it doesn't bother me like that." _

_"So you don't like him, then?" _she'd laughed in my face then_._

_"You're just as bad as everyone else! I've never liked Henry like _that,_ He's just Henry."_

And so I asked her out on the spot, sort of caught up in the moment, too giddy to finally know that she didn't like him. She was quiet, with a smile on her face, and said "Sure". About ten minutes after we walked out to the docks where we were supposed to meet Shane, Nikki, Henry, Dennis, and a bunch of other people, Abby bounced her way over to Nikki and whispered into her ear. I had been blushing furiously, but unable to keep the grin off my face.

"SERIOUSLY?" Nikki half yelled, followed by a chorus of Abby's shushing. "Well it's about time _girl!"_

I pulled into Henry's driveway then, and JD was already outside on the deck, running out to Abby's side of the car, and throwing it open.

"Abby! Hey I'm so sorry, Abbs, really, really sorry." She just kept her head down as she climbed out, and half accepted the embrace that I thought was sure to squash her. She croaked when she finally spoke.

"Tha-anks, JD," her head was still down, like she was admiring her shoes. I walked over and put my arm around her waist, taking her up the front steps, with JD on the other side.

"Is Henry here?" I asked him before we walked under the doorway. He shook his head as he responded,

"Nah, he was down helping out at the Marina. Not really sure when he'll be back. Can't be long now though, He was down there when it started, called to tell us that he was okay. We were watching him on the news, they have a bunch of people helping out."

"Yeah, we ran down after we saw it from the side of the mountain. Henry was down there when we got there, but I wasn't sure if he'd stayed to help." JD turned to Abby as we pulled her past the television, now displaying a live feed from the woods where her mother was found.

"Do you want anything to eat, drink, Abby?" JD said, grabbing a pop tart for himself out of a cupboard. He ripped it open and started munching away, crumbs falling out of his mouth. I laughed, he'd always had a habit of nervous eating.

"No thanks, JD, I'm fine. Just… in shock." She shrugged. This was probably her way of coping, shrugging it off like it was no big deal. Her shell.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" I asked in a small voice, taking her hand. She paused, shuddered, and then shook her head.

"Not yet,"

"Whenever you're ready, I'm right here." And then she caught me by surprise as she turned around and kissed me quickly, but hard, on the lips. She dug herself a little cave in my shoulder, and put her head into my chest. We walked like that towards the living room, JD went ahead to turn off the TV that was still showing the Sheriff and his men at the crime scene. I would compare walking like that, to walking in a kid's relay course; with their legs stuck together and having to run together to the other side. We plopped ourselves into the couch, pillows flying up as we went down.

"Springy couch, sorry," JD gave Abby an apologetic smile.

It was silent for while, it was probably creeping on a half hour when Henry opened the door, covered in sweat and dirt, a base ball hat slightly falling off the side of his head.

"Abby? Jimmy? What's up, what're ya do'n here?" His oblivious tone reminded me that he still had no clue what had happened. JD piped up then.

"Henry… her mom…"

"What?" Henry took a step towards Abby and me. "What happened Abby, is she okay?" We all shook our heads.

"She was… hung from a tree." JD said, "With two other people." Henry's eyes grew wide.

"She's dead? Who could have… _Why?_"

The million dollar question of the day, I thought to myself.

"They don't know who did it yet. The sheriff found her after he left the marina." JD said again, to spare Abby from having to speak about it anymore than necessary. Henry turned back to Abby then, opening up his arms for a hug. I let her go, but she didn't slip away immediately. Hesitating, she stood up and took herself into Henry's arms. I stood up then too, and rubbed my hand up and down the small of her back, trying to sooth her.

Abby took a deep breath, and slumped back into my shoulder, I held her up, and we fell back into the springy couch.

"Why would he do that to her? What did she ever do to him?" She looked up at Henry as she spoke, her voice trembling slightly. She turned back to me, and I saw a few tears come from her eyes, falling down her ghostly pale cheeks. I quickly wiped them away with a kiss, and held her closer.


End file.
